Proposed connector between 429, U.S. 27 up for discussion in Lake County

Central Florida Expressway Authority seeking input from residents

CLERMONT, Fla. – The Central Florida Expressway Authority is seeking public input about proposed plans to build a 5-mile connector between U.S. 27 in Lake County and State Road 429 in Orange County.

Lake County Commissioner Sean Parks has been working to make the project happen for the last seven years. 

"If you look at Highway 50 in the morning and the evenings, it's just jammed packed," he said.

"For folks who are going between southwest Orange County and southeast Lake County, it's not particularly easy to get between the two," Kathy Putnam, a public information officer for Central Florida Expressway Authority, said. "This study is looking if a limited access road would be viable and fundable."  

Authority leaders are looking at more than a dozen different variations of a connector in this area. 

This comes one week after Clermont leaders announced plans for a proposed sports complex in that same area, which they said could bring in an economic impact or more than $1 billion.

[PREVIOUS: Multi-purpose 250-acre sports complex planned for Clermont area]

"Olympus will become almost a city of its own with the amount of building slated to be happening there," Clermont director of economic development Shanon Schmidt told News 6 last week. 

Parks in the area need good infrastructure in place, and this road will be a part of that plan.

The meeting will take place Thursday from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Clermont Arts and Recreation Center Gymnasium, which is located at 3700 S. Hwy. 27 in Clermont. Anyone who attends the meeting will be able to review maps, ask questions and make comments to the study team with the Central Florida Expressway Authority. 

Central Florida Expressway Authority leaders said it could still be five to six years before construction on the project can begin.

Learn more about the project here.


About the Author

It has been an absolute pleasure for Clay LePard living and working in Orlando since he joined News 6 in July 2017. Previously, Clay worked at WNEP TV in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he brought viewers along to witness everything from unprecedented access to the Tobyhanna Army Depot to an interview with convicted double-murderer Hugo Selenski.

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